Cornyn calls for a stronger balanced budget amendment than current House GOP proposal

Sen. John Cornyn is a proponent of a strong balanced budget amendment, which may be difficult to get through both chambers of Congress. (AP photo)

Sen. John Cornyn implored his colleagues in the House to vote for a strong balanced budget amendment this week — something he does not expect House Republican leaders to do.

Speaking at the Heritage Foundation today, Cornyn said that the amendment that will come to the House floor Friday may generate more bipartisan support but has weaker standards than he would like to see.

Cornyn explained the need for a constitutional mandate for a balanced budget, calling the federal government “the cause of the problem” and outlining the ways in which the federal budget deficit has grown since President Barack Obama entered office.

“[The national debt] is a threat not only to our ability to provide for the most vulnerable, but also to our future prosperity,” he said.

To solve the problem, Cornyn said that he didn’t just want to obstruct Obama administration policies that increased spending and the deficit. Instead, Congress should “do something good” and pass what supporter’s call the “BBA.”

“Congress has shown it cannot balance the budget on its own, and we cannot effectively control future Congresses,” he said, adding that the solution would be to amend the Constitution to force Congress to balance its budget.

Balanced budget amendments have a long history in Congress, with the most recent attempt at passage occurring in 1997, when a version passed the House and came within one vote of passing the Senate. A similar bill, which would prevent Congress from spending more than it receives in revenues unless three-fifths of both chambers vote to do so, will be up for debate on the House floor on Friday.

Today, Cornyn pushed for what he called a strong amendment–one that allows for no tax increases without the support of two-thirds of Congress, and a tighter cap on government spending. A strong BBA, he said, would prevent excessive government spending and send a message to the nation and the rest of the world that Congress can solve its budgeting problems.

“Let’s all remember that the disease in Washington is out-of-control spending,” he said. “A strong BBA will treat the disease along with the symptoms. An amendment with too many exceptions and loopholes will not.”

The constitutional amendment Cornyn is advocating, S.J. Res. 10, has the support of 47 Republican senators. But because of the tighter restrictions in S.J. Res. 10, it’s unlikely to attain the two-thirds of support it needs to pass out of the House. That’s why Goodlatte’s bill, a slightly more relaxed version, will come to the floor on Friday. The Hill newspaper reports that he’s not yet sure whether he has enough Democratic votes to ensure its passage.

Cornyn concluded his speech by proposing an alternate solution, if Congress can’t come together and pass a BBA.

“Even if we’re unable to send a balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification, we have other options. This might be the fail-safe option the Founders were thinking of in Article 5 of the Constitution,” he said.

Article 5 provides for the states to come together in a Constitutional Convention to amend the Constitution, bypassing the normal congressional route. It’s an idea that’s been floated before, most notably during the Ronald Reagan administration, but the states haven’t actually called a Constitutional Convention since the founding of the U.S.